Network Update
We couldn ' t be happier with the first three months of the new financial year . Normally this is a period in which we are all preparing and getting set for what we hope will be a busy spring and celebrating last year ' s achievements at our awards nights . But not this year ! Spring and summer arrived very early , especially in the Australian residential market .
Our July - Sept 2023 sales results officially certified the renewed and broad-based resurgence in the residential market that we have been seeing since late May 2023 . We wrote $ 6.9 billion in sales in August across Australia and New Zealand , 14 per cent higher than the same month in 2022 . Remarkably , it was only four per cent down on 2021 - a year that broke all the sales records and has been disclaimed by many as a ‘ statistical outlier ’! There were many extraordinary results from our residential offices during August , the most remarkable being a record month from Ray White Lower North Shore Group , writing $ 216 million in sales , and from Josh Tesolin and his team at Ray White Quakers Hill selling 135 properties .
The market is very well-stocked for spring , with listings up 12 per cent up on last year and more than 20 per cent higher than two years ago . Are more listings coming as a result of the impending ‘ mortgage cliff ’ that so many forecasters were predicting ? Hard to say : vendors that are coming to market as a result of financial stress will usually keep that fact to themselves .
While there is emerging confidence in New Zealand , the national election set for mid-October is just one reason why it ’ s lagging Australia in terms of new listing activity .
Some have predicted that this increase in listings would result in a ‘ buyer ’ s market ’. However , the median number of days it took us to sell the properties we sold in May was 37 , and in August it was 31 . Our Chief Economist , Nerida Conisbee , has written about some of the reasons as to why we are seeing the market behave in the way that it is in her weekly economic update .
The Australian commercial market tells a less exciting story . There remains a more significant disconnect between where buyers see value and the urgency of vendors to genuinely test the market to see where value sits . Transaction numbers reflect this divide .
During the quarter we proudly welcomed 6,400 of our members to our five state-based awards nights across Australia , the New Zealand awards in Auckland , the Rural awards in Brisbane , and the Commercial and Projects awards on the Gold Coast . Our events go to the heart of what we describe as our family experience , celebrating the sacrifice and creativity required to achieve extraordinary results in this industry year after year . They celebrate teamwork and being part of something bigger . It inspires leaders to set their targets on what they want to achieve in the year ahead .
In the technology space , we are now live across our international network with NurtureCloud , enabling our business leaders to provide their teams with a unique and AI powered platform to communicate with customers . We are well into an extensive trial of the next few modules of NurtureCloud designed to provide both buyers and vendors with a significantly improved experience . A huge thank you to all our members in this trial , especially Vince Carnevale and his team at Ray White Pascoe Vale .
NutureCloud is a vital part of our longer term technology strategy aimed at giving all our members a competitive advantage by using our unique size to create network effects . Along with NutureCloud , we are excited by the continued increase in use of Refer . raywhite . com to improve the promotion of client referrals across our international network . We encourage more of our members to use two other products that also seek to create unique network effects being Radar ( radar . raywhite . com ) and Stockboards ( stockboard . raywhite . com ).
It was another strong period for growth and recruitment , as detailed in the following pages . Our group market share across Australia and New Zealand - defining whether we are retaining and attracting ambitious talent - is over 12.5 per cent . A record number - but we know our best days are well ahead of us .
Dan White Managing Director Ray White Group
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